A SWAT team knocked on his door during a predawn raid, and when he failed to answer, they broke down the door and stormed inside. As they entered, Massad fired two shots, forcing the officers to retreat back outside. They took cover by an armored vehicle and ordered Massad to drop his gun. He complied with their commands and was taken into custody.

"If somebody is firing at us we have every means and every right to fire back at them. They did what they thought was appropriate at the time," Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said. “He shot at our members. He’s lucky he’s not dead.”

Massad lost his medical license in 1992 but authorities say that he continued to practice medicine from his home. According to the Tampa Bay Times, Massad was brought up on charges of malpractice, faulty record-keeping, human experimentation without consent and delegating duties to an unqualified person by the Florida Board of Medicine, following the death of a three-year-old patient.

Massad was charged with attempted murder and practicing medicine without a license.